Jethro Lazenby, son of legendary musician Nick Cave, passed away at age 31.
Jethro worked as a fashion model and had recently been released from jail in Australia after being convicted of assault against his mother. Though we’re not yet sure how Jethro died, Nick Cave announced that his eldest son had died in a brief statement.
Nick wrote: “With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away. We would be grateful for family privacy at this time.”
Jethro was born to Nick and his mother Beau Lazenby in 1991, just 10 days before Nick’s second son was born to his first wife.
Jethro’s death marks the loss of Nick Cave’s second son after his youngest, Arthur Cave died in 2015 from falling off a cliff in Brighton, England.
Arthur’s wife, Susie Cave posted a tribute to her late brother in law on Instagram.
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Jethro had worked as a model, and photographer and had even acted in two films, Corroboree (2007) and My Little Princess (2011).
Nick Cave didn’t meet his oldest son until he was about seven or eight years old. He told a journalist in 2008: “It was a difficult time, but it turned out great in the end,”
Later, in 2012 Cave said: “To my eternal regret, I didn’t make much contact with Jethro in the early years, but I now have a great relationship with him.”
After working in the arts for a few years and even starting his own music projects, Jethro was convicted of assault in 2018, against his then-girlfriend and most recently, he was found guilty of unlawful assault after physically attacking his mother in March.
Jethro’s lawyer announced that the creative had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Jethro was only just released from jail last weekend.
Jethro’s cause of death is yet to be announced.
The tragic news has come one day prior to the release of Nick’s new film, This Much I Know To Be True. Directed by Andrew Dominik, who also directed Cave’s first film, One More Time With Feeling, as it documented the making of a masterful album, Skeleton Tree, in the wake of losing his youngest son, Arthur.
Releasing May 11, the film further explores the delicate creative process. Showing Cave and partner, Warren Ellis, performing songs from Bad Seeds 2019 album Ghotsteen and Cave/Ellis’ Carnage. While performing the songs, it further explores how the songs were created and the intrinsic relationship between Cave and Ellis themselves.
Talking to NME, Ellis explains: “our collaboration feels, to me, to be codependent. We each do something that the other doesn’t. I don’t know much about words. I can get in there and make a mess of music and then Nick can order me. That was interesting watching the film – I realised how chaotic I am. Andrew amazingly chopped it together – this absolute chaos that seemed to be around me. And then Nick is so ordered. I’d never really thought about that, until I saw it.”
Tickets are selling around the world in anticipation of the release tomorrow night. In the chaos, joy and tragedy, this film is a reminder of our potential and connection to each other.
